In the Wake of the News

As if Bears vs. Packers needed much enhancement

No matter how full the moon is Sunday night over Lambeau Field, Jay Cutler expects to see some lunacy looking back at him through the window of the Bears team bus.

Before the visitors pull out of the parking lot, typically a pocket of Packers fans pay tribute by pulling down their camouflage pants and showing Green Bay's rivals their rumps.

A bare-Packer tradition indeed.

"I'm guessing [Green Bay] is similar to Kansas City, older stadium, great fans, it'll be a great experience," Cutler said.

It will mark Cutler's first exposure to the shenanigans and everything else about the NFL's oldest rivalry, which got a shot of botox and a tummy tuck from the arrival of Cutler to face Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for, say, the next decade.

Cutler-Rodgers was a prime-time matchup before NBC ever moved the kickoff after dark.

This is the NFC's version of Tom Brady-Peyton Manning, better than Donovan McNabb-Tony Romo in the NFC East, not quite yet Troy Aikman-Steve Young from the 1990s.

Thanks to Brett Favre, this is the first time a Bears fan with a straight face could argue they have the edge at quarterback since Dec. 8, 1991, when Jim Harbaugh outplayed former Bear Mike Tomczak in 27-13 victory over Tomczak's Packers.

This only will get better, too, no matter how compelling Sunday's first round between Cutler and Rodgers is.

Who's better? Which young quarterback would you choose if you were starting an NFL franchise tomorrow? Objectively, you would have to be wearing a cheddar chapeau to say Rodgers.

Cutler has more NFL starts, entering his third full season in charge, and that larger body of work gives him the edge. That's not provincialism as much as conventional wisdom around the league. In the NFL, experience wins more than the Patriots.

In fairness, Rodgers threw for 4,038 yards, 28 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions for an impressive passer rating of 93.8 in his first season as Green Bay's starter. Everything that happened during a nearly flawless preseason indicated an even better year lies ahead for him.

But until Rodgers does it again, it's just potential. And potential and $9.95 will get you a plate of venison in Green Bay.

Meanwhile, Cutler has shown enough improvement in each of his first three seasons to suggest he is on the cusp of his prime. He threw for 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions last year for a passer rating of 86. Yes, Cutler throws into coverage and looks prone to make more mistakes than Rodgers, but that also makes Cutler a bigger deep-ball threat.

Cutler is 17-20 as a starter, Rodgers 6-10. Both rank among the league leaders in moxie. That's a wash.

Bears coach Lovie Smith was asked Wednesday if he would encourage Cutler to develop a competitive rivalry with Rodgers as he did with the Chargers' Philip Rivers. That's a little like asking Miss Manners if it would be OK to encourage your kid to belch at the dinner table.

"Would I encourage him to get into the rivalry with Green Bay? I sure would," Smith answered, avoiding the bait.

After those nasty Cutler-Rivers matchups turned into a lip-reader's delight, Rivers dropped below Broncos owner Pat Bowlen on Cutler's Christmas card list. There was name-calling. There was crotch-grabbing. It devolved to the point where "The Best Damn Sports Show, Period," got involved.

But, sorry, if you are looking for similar stuff Sunday night between the quarterbacks, you will have to flip channels to find melodrama or conflict. Cutler and Rodgers apparently text-message each other like teenagers at the mall, with Cutler thumbing Rodgers good luck this week and Rodgers replying in kind. They are Black-and-Blue division buddies.

Perhaps Cutler and Rodgers, born 217 days apart in 1983, connect because they share more in common than rare right arms. Both guys can relate to the burden of replacing legends, Rodgers immediately following Favre in Green Bay and Cutler playing in the shadow of John Elway in Denver.

"Aaron is a friend of mine [and] I want to win this one, he wants to win this one. But after this game, I wish him the best," Cutler said. "Hopefully we're around for a long time playing each other for a long time."

Over time, the measure of who gets the best of whom won't come in comparing how many games Cutler's Bears beat Rodgers' Packers, or vice versa. The truest measure will come in who takes his team deepest in the postseason. Until Cutler or Rodgers makes an impact in January, both will envy Joe Flacco and his 2-1 playoff record.

"I've never been to the playoffs," Cutler pointed out Wednesday. "I've never been to the Super Bowl. ... But it all starts Sunday."

That's when Cutler goes to a place he never has been, intent on beginning a journey that would make Chicago, well, over the moon by the time it ends.